No more is Rutgers football in a conference where its champion will have to fight to gain national respect.

No more is Rutgers football in a conference where its members have one foot out the door.

No more is Rutgers football in a conference better known for playing basketball.

Rutgers football is in the Big Ten and that means year-round national attention, where stories happening hundreds of miles away can feel like they are taking place in the backyard of a neighborhood covering three of the biggest cities in the country.

Here is a look at five Big Ten storylines expected to play out during the season and how much each impacts Rutgers on an escalating scale of 1-10.

Can OSU win the national championship?

Significance for Rutgers: 2

Skinny: The Big Ten hasn’t won a national title since 2002 and Ohio State’s three appearances in the BCS National Championship Game were the only ones for the conference during the 16-year era. As a result, the Big Ten has slipped to fourth in most assessments of the five major conferences as the four-team College Football Playoff era begins. But Ohio State, which had a 24-game winning streak before ending last season with two straight losses, boasts a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback (Braxton Miller) and a level of speed and athleticism unmatched in the league because of coach Urban Meyer’s familiarity with what makes the SEC so formidable. Rutgers is a long away from the national championship discussion but what’s good for the league is good for Rutgers, especially when it comes to generating revenue.

What will become of the push by Northwestern to unionize?

Significance for Rutgers: 5

Skinny: Earlier this year, Northwestern football players filed a petition to form a union, were ruled to be employees of the university by the Chicago district of the National Labor Relations Board, and cast a secret-ballot vote on whether or not to unionize – the results of which are unknown – that could forever change the landscape of amateur sports. The movement, which has met resistance from the NCAA, will be a dominant topic at Big Ten Media Day and other league-wide events and could be a distraction for Northwestern, though not really for its conference peers. Only in the long-term – if it leads to a change in the rules governing college athletics – could it affect Rutgers. Coach Kyle Flood has said he is for enhancing the working conditions for college football players but he does not think paid salaries is the answer.

Is Penn State head coach James Franklin going to walk the walk after talking the talk?

Significance for Rutgers: 8

Skinny: Franklin was a champion of the offseason after being hired in January. He won over rooms of donors with talk about how new rivals Rutgers and Maryland “don’t have a chance” and backed up his Top 25-ranked 2014 recruiting class with the foundation for a potential Top 5 class in 2015 despite dealing with NCAA-imposed scholarship and postseason sanctions. Of course, he also created inflated expectations and the back-to-back 9-4 seasons he had at Vanderbilt are not going to be cause for celebration in Happy Valley. Penn State is invading New Jersey for top recruits at a rate not seen in a decade, but Rutgers can put a stop to it by silencing Franklin on the field Sept. 13 and in years to come.

How will Rutgers, Maryland do?

Significance for Rutgers: 10

Skinny: The additions of Rutgers and Maryland initially were met with skepticism – or worse – by the Old Guard of Big Ten alums in the Midwest and only were assuaged with talks of television markets and increased league-wide revenues. There still is resistance to moving Big Ten Championship events to the East Coast and only on-field success will complete the integration. There is a general feeling that Maryland is better prepared for the Big Ten because its jump from the ACC is smaller than Rutgers’ jump from the Big East/AAC, but Rutgers has had the better records and the better recruiting classes in recent years. First impressions matter and if the two newcomers struggle out of the gate it is going to be a while before they are seen as anything more than shark food.

Is the East Division as vastly superior to the West Division as expected?

Significance for Rutgers: 10

Skinny: The Big Ten took some heat for the arrogant division names (Legends and Leaders) used during the last three seasons but no one questioned the competitive balance. By splitting the league in two geographically and protecting traditional rivalries – with competitive balance being priority No. 3 to commissioner Jim Delany – the Big Ten created an East Division referred to as a Murderer’s Row and a supposedly inferior West Division. Sure, conference landscapes change over time – the Big Ten has sent eight teams to the Rose Bowl since 1995 and crowned nine different champions since 2000. But right now it’s trouble for Rutgers. Some experts are saying Rutgers would be bowl-bound against a West Division schedule but nearly all are picking a last-place finish in the East.